


Awkward doesn't even begin to cover it

by SlayerEnfiniti



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU where Amon came back :A:, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, a couple swears here and there are the most objectionable part, light fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 02:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2834519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlayerEnfiniti/pseuds/SlayerEnfiniti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amon and Kaneki both need to heal, and Arima gets the bright idea to make them roommates while they do.</p><p>Prompts: Domestic routines, sunsets</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward doesn't even begin to cover it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [walking_through_autumn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/walking_through_autumn/gifts).



> *whistles innocently* So uh this is ooonly five times the required amount of words. Oops.
> 
> Tumblr url: kanekistentacles.tumblr.com . I do not currently have this fic up on there, but once I revamp my pages and make one for my fics it'll be listed.

“You're doing _what?!”_ Amon gaped at Arima. The man was a genius, both physically and mentally, but this was beyond insane.

“I'm putting you in a recovery house with Centipede. Neither of you are in any shape to be living alone, but we don't have the staff to give both of you around-the-clock care.”

Amon glanced down at his missing limb, then back up. “You... do know Eyepatch is the one who took my arm, right?” His other injuries were rather minor, in his opinion. He could walk and talk, which was better than a lot of the CCG right now. “Do you really trust him not to kill me?”

Arima adjusted his glasses. “Yes and yes. This isn't a suggestion, First Class. It's an order. By the end of today you both will be moved to the D-wing apartments. Nurses will check in on you three times a day, but you'll be expected to function without them there.”

 

* * *

 

Six hours later, Amon was led into D-1414. With some trepidation, he saw that the white-haired boy was already here, set up on the couch. Bandages wound around the other's head, obscuring one eye but leaving the left uncovered. The nurses bustled around, making sure they had everything they needed, but Amon ignored them to walk carefully up to the other. “Eyepatch...”

One grey eye looked up at him with unidentifiable emotion. “Kaneki. My name's Kaneki Ken.” His hand came up to scratch the edge of his bandages. “I guess... we're roommates now.”

“Mhm.” This was going to be so awkward. So terribly awkward.

 

* * *

An hour or so later, everything was in place. They were set, and honestly the conditions were far more comfortable than Amon had been expecting. The last nurse looked down that the two of them on the couch, then handed each a small flip phone. “Speed dial 2 is the nurse's station. We're about five minutes away, so plan accordingly. Speed dial 3 is one of our doctors' direct line. If you need anything, call one of us.” Amon took the phone and awkwardly slipped it into his pocket, while Kaneki examined his consideringly. “Both of you are going to be in a fair amount of pain, so try to be understanding to each other. Help each other when you can. If you disobey one of my nurses you'll be explaining yourselves to _me._ ” They both nodded. “Good, then I'll be back in the morning.”

She left, and they gave a synchronized sigh of relief. Kaneki turned to him, his one visible eye light with humor. “She's scarier than anyone else around here.”

“Agreed.” An awkward silence fell. Kaneki looked away, shoulders hunching a bit. “Eye... Kaneki. You-”

“I'm sorry.” The words were rushed, but strong. Kaneki was still looking away from him. “I-It's my fault you're... I'm sorry.”

Amon sighed. Better to get this conversation out of the way. “It's... fine. I'm still alive, aren't I? Besides... you don't look like you fared well in the battle, either.”

Kaneki turned him an unhappy face. “But mine will heal. Yours...” His gaze dropped to Amon's missing limb, and the stump of it gave a throb. “Yours won't,” Kaneki finished quietly.

That was true enough, but the sad and defeated tone of Kaneki's voice had Amon arguing again. “I'm alive,” he insisted. “That's enough for me.” Kaneki looked away, obviously not agreeing, and Amon sighed. “I'm going to bed.”

 

* * *

The next morning, Amon woke to a throbbing mass of pain. He'd tried to sleep on his right side again. With a groan, he rolled onto his back, but now the damage was done and he was awake. He stared up at the ceiling, thoughts starting to churn. Usually he'd exercise to get his thoughts in order, but he'd been banned from so much as a single pushup for at least another week. With how much pain he was in right now, he had to agree that exercise would be a bad idea. Amon got to his feet with a sigh, teetering for a moment before his balance readjusted. He'd never been one of the graceful ones like Arima, but now that his balance was having to shift he felt like a raging hippopotamus. Everything he knew how to do, from walking to eating to dressing, he was having to learn to do again, and that thought soured his mood.

Before it got too sour, though, the image of Kaneki's defeated expression, head swathed in bandages, intruded. His stump throbbed. It could have been so much worse.

Amon pulled a loose T-shirt over his head, then wriggled his arm up and through the proper hole. Between that and his sweatpants, he felt dressed enough to go out into the living room, though it was still the wee hours of the morning. Any sensible person would be asleep.

As expected, the living room was dark. He padded softly toward the kitchen.

“Couldn't sleep either?” Amon jumped, turning toward the couch. Kaneki's brilliant white hair was a dull grey in the darkness, and he couldn't see the other's expression at all.

He took a deep breath, trying to get his heart rate back down to normal. “I rolled on the wrong side, so I'm getting some pain meds.” Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was still four hours until the nurses would check in. Perfect. “What... What about you?”

A sigh, then a click as the lamp came on. “Bad dreams... fragments of people I need to remember, and I... I don't.” The part of Kaneki's face he could see looked almost haggard, skin unhealthily pale and bags under his eyes. “I lost... most of my memories. Most of my life is just gone, and most of the rest of it is tiny, jumbled fragments. Only a few things I remember clearly.” He looked away, down to the coffee table where a book lay. “I wanted to read, to take my mind off it, but I guess my eye isn't healed enough for that.”

Not knowing what to say, Amon went to fetch a glass of milk and his painkillers, then came back and sat on the couch. “What about our battles?” he asked softly. The way Kaneki had been talking yesterday...

“Our first is, is in the fragments,” Kaneki said a little unsteadily. “The second I remember clearly... It's the clearest memory I have...” His shoulders hunched as he looked over at Amon.

Amon just popped the pills in his mouth and drained the milk in one long drink. What must it be like, to have a shattered memory? All the bandages around his head, the lost eye, Amon had known he'd gotten a bad head injury, but somehow he hadn't connected that the other might have an injured brain, too. “Not such a bad thing to have for a clear memory. It gives you a good idea of your morals, at least. You did the same thing in our first battle, telling me you didn't want to kill and please don't make you.”

The twist of Kaneki's mouth let him know he wasn't helping, and he lapsed into silence. A long moment passed.

Kaneki sighed. “I'm going back to my room.” He left, leaving Amon alone with his thoughts again.

 

* * *

A few hours later, the nurses came. They didn't, as Amon had half-expected, congratulate them both on not killing each other. Instead they poked and prodded in their normal routine. Amon went with it willingly, watching Kaneki's examination out of the corner of his eye. It looked pretty similar to his as far as vitals-taking went, though they drew blood from the other in the middle of it. When they started unwrapping the bandages, though, Amon's stomach churned and he had to look away. That was his first good look at Kaneki's injuries and frankly he didn't even know how the other was still alive. Anyone else would surely have died from losing that much brain matter. He took the pills offered, and then the nurses left again.

Kaneki flopped down on the couch, looking exhausted. “They're... thorough, aren't they?” Amon sat next to him and groaned.

“I know tough love is supposed to be the best medicine, but...” That got a huff that was _almost_ a chuckle out of Kaneki. “Did I see them take your blood? Didn't they do that before releasing you?”

Kaneki looked at his elbow, face impassive. “They did... They take blood at least every day, and usually more than once.” Amon's eyebrows shot up at that. That was _horribly_ excessive, abusive even, and he'd- “They're monitoring my RC levels.” Oh. Amon's shoulders relaxed again and he slumped back against the couch.

“I guess that makes sense...” he said reluctantly.

“No, it really doesn't,” Kaneki growled. “You want to know what my last reading was? Two hundred. Two fucking hundred. Every RC cell in my whole body is in my head right now, desperately trying to repair the damage.” He gave an angry huff of a sigh. “Even if I wanted to raise hell, it's out of the question until I'm _completely_ healed.”

The rant, and the frustration behind it, blindsided Amon. It was so... normal. He'd be frustrated too, if people were terrified of him while he was an invalid.

Kaneki's voice rose a bit in pitch as his rant continued. “And no one's even _talked_ to me about. 'Hello Ken, do you feel like burning down the CCG today?' 'Shockingly I find myself without that impulse, thank you very much.”

“RC levels wouldn't be a very good indicator of that,” Amon pointed out logically. “And we don't have a good way to measure homicidal aggression.” Kaneki stared blankly at him for a beat, just long enough for Amon to regret throwing the other off his stride. Hearing him vent was informative and mildly fascinating. “N-Never mind.”

Kaneki leaned back, face turning so Amon couldn't see his eye. “I'm just...” He groped for words.

“Frustrated.”

The other nodded. “Mmhm... On one hand I wish they'd ask me what I want... on the other, I don't even know what I want...”

“That does sound frustrating.” Damn, he sounded like a therapist.

Kaneki sighed. “I'm tired... I'm going back to sleep.”

 

* * *

 

They fell into a strange sort of routine. Kaneki had both hands, but was weak as a kitten. Amon had most of his strength, but only one hand. They helped each other out in a kind of tense truce. Both acted as though they were afraid one wrong word would explode the situation, but over the next day or so they both relaxed a bit, and they felt more like roommates than inmates. It helped a lot that both of them spent a decent portion of the day sleeping, and once Kaneki's eye healed a bit more he was rarely without a book.

Three days after they moved in together, Amon was summoned to talk with Arima. While he was gone, nurses coincidentally _just happened_ to be swarming the place to clean. Kaneki gave a sour look and curled up in one of the chair, pointedly putting a book between himself and anyone else.

Amon, on the other hand, walked to Arima's office under his own power, not even escorted. Maybe it was only him that wasn't an inmate, he thought with a flush of guilt as he sat across from Arima.

“Good morning, First Class Amon.” Arima had a pleasant half-smile on his face, his polite poker face.

“Good morning, sir,” Amon replied stiffly. There was only one reason he could think of for him being asked to report now, and he didn't like it. He eyed Arima's notebook. “You want to know how Eyepatch is doing.”

Arima's eyebrow rose at the statement. “I do. I assume you've been watching him while you've been sharing space?”

Shifting his weight, Amon looked away. “Hard not to.” This left a bad taste in his mouth. Still, implied orders were still orders and Amon was well aware of how he compared to Arima. They might only be one rank different officially, but officialness couldn't contain a person like Arima. He sighed heavily. “What do you want to know?”

A bigger smile. “General observations, mostly. How has living with him gone, these past few days?”

Amon looked out the window as he thought. “He's... quiet. Reserved. Spends most of his time either in his room or reading.” Arima nodded encouragingly, scratching notes. “For all he's quiet, though, he says his opinions strongly. He doesn't ask for help unless he has to, but when he needs it he doesn't hesitate.” The other's eyebrows rose at that and he made a longer note as Amon paused. What else could he say?

“You respect him.”

Amon's lips pursed for a moment, but he nodded. “He and I are... a lot alike.”

That got another smile out of Arima. Was Amon getting better at getting reactions out of him, or had Arima actually loosened up? “If that's true, then we'll have excellent material to work with indeed.” The sentence had an odd tone to it; it didn't sound finished and yet Amon almost didn't dare ask for clarification.

“Sir? Material for what?” Suddenly Arima's expression was back to unreadable, and Amon got this weird urge to push for Kaneki's sake. “Can't you give him at least a basic idea of what to expect? It's really bothering him that no one will tell him what's going on. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing, or what his future is going to be like.” The words tumbled out in an uncoordinated rush, and Amon's cheeks pinked a little when he was done.

Arima looked steadily at him for a long moment, then sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was softer. “He'll need to be patient a little while longer. I'm working as fast as I can, but I'm only one person.” This time his tone closed the conversation. “Anything else?”

Amon desperately cast about for a change of subject. “It's weird to room with someone who doesn't eat.” A beat. Arima's head tilted a bit and heat rose to Amon's cheeks again. “I mean, regularly. I never noticed how much time we spend eating until there was someone who wasn't.”

“Fascinating,” Arima said dryly. He closed his notebook and cleared his throat. “Your duty... and his... is to heal, for now. Try not to worry about anything else for a while. Relax, read a book...” Realizing he had the wrong audience for that piece of advice, he cleared his throat again. “Get better soon, First Class.”

 

* * *

 

As he came back to his shared space he noted with distaste that there were just as many people in there as there had been when he left. Did they really need to do that? Kaneki couldn't even carry his own bedcover into the living room and they were still convinced he was a threat. When he cleared his throat and walked in, suddenly all of the nurses' tasks were magically complete, and they rolled out.

“Finally,” Kaneki breathed, gently shutting his book and closing his eye. “I thought you'd never come back.”

Amon nodded dumbly and sat on the couch, feeling the leftover tension drain out of him. Kaneki watched him for a minute, but didn't ask. Amon sighed. “Meeting with Arima.” Kaneki nodded, still watching him expectantly. “He said... said that both of us just need to focus on healing.” Kaneki's face twisted into a grimace and he looked away. “But he said _you_ just need to be patient for quote 'a little while longer'.”

Kaneki pursed his lips and tried not to look too hopeful. “No telling what he thinks a little while is, though.”

“Nope.”

Kaneki sighed.

 

* * *

 

The next few days passed in relative peace. It was starting to baffle Amon why Kaneki hadn't healed yet; weren't ghouls supposed to heal injuries in a few minutes? Granted they were severe, but still... Their routine was shattered when a full team of Doves – quinques already out! - came to fetch Kaneki. The other had blanched at the sight of them, shrinking as if he could disappear into the couch.

“Come on, ghoul,” one Amon didn't know said in a gravelly voice. “Let's get this over with.”

Apprehension had Amon on his feet before the other was done speaking. “Did something happen? What's going on?” It was a fight to keep his voice steady; surely Arima couldn't have given up? They'd spent this much time and effort on Kaneki, they wouldn't...

Kaneki suddenly looked young and vulnerable, hunched down in the chair with his knees in front of him. “I haven't done anything wrong,” he said quietly.

“Hey boneheads, you're scaring him.” The familiar authoritative voice of Mado soothed Amon a little, and she pushed to the front. Unlike the ones he didn't know, she had no weapons in hand or on her at all, as far as Amon could tell. “It's fine, we're just taking Kaneki for a bit. For... well.” She turned to Kaneki. “It's been a while since you ate.” Amon relaxed further at that, and Kaneki straightened upright.

“You... you won't hurt me.” It was half question and half statement, about as solid as pudding. “Right?”

Mado sighed and came closer, bending down a bit to be on Kaneki's level. “You know I can't make a blanket promise like that. But we don't intend to harm you if you don't try to harm us, and I for one am on the side of preventing harm to you.” He didn't look totally convinced, and Amon couldn't blame him. “We, ah. We found something for you to eat that doesn't horribly offend our higher-ups. And you want to heal faster, don't you?”

Oh, Amon thought. You needed food to heal. That made sense.

Kaneki took a second to process Mado's words, then slowly got to his feet. “I'm not going to resist,” he grumbled at the other Doves. “I'm barely to the point of being able to stand without getting dizzy, you don't have to have weapons pointing at me.” Amon could hear the undercurrent of frustration in the other's words, but predictably no one put their quinques away.

“Come on...” Mado exchanged a quick glance with Amon as she led Kaneki out, and for a moment Amon wished he could go with. How unfair was it that when he was summoned he went out under his own power, but Kaneki had to be escorted by a half dozen battle-ready idiots? The door shut behind them and Amon sighed in disgust.

He spent an hour trying very hard not to think of what Kaneki might be eating. That was to say, he thought about it. A lot. Human? Ghoul? He wasn't strong enough to hunt, so whatever he ate must already be dead, or nearly. Sickly? Criminal? No way of knowing. As the hour stretched into two, though, worry started creeping in. It didn't take that long to eat. Did it? He didn't actually know. But... something felt wrong.

Two hours stretched into three, and Amon paced the living room, hand on his phone. He knew Mado's number, he could call her, but would that seem too desperate? He checked the clock for the thousandth time. Five more minutes. He'd give it five more minutes before he called.

As he thought that, though, the door clicked and opened, and Kaneki walked in. Amon stared. When he'd left in the morning he'd looked tired – as always – but now Kaneki looked _haunted_. There was no color at all to his face, his shoulders hunched, and he moved in slow motion. The other went to his normal chair, tucking his knees up against his chest in a strong defensive gesture. “Ka... Kaneki?” Amon asked quietly. Kaneki buried his face against his knees and shook his head, and concern welled up in Amon.

“He'll be alright,” a soft voice behind him said. Amon whirled, and there was Mado. She, too, looked weary. “Special Class Arima put him through the wringer mentally, but physically he's recovering faster now. Just give him a bit of time, alright?” Amon nodded dumbly, and she left.

Silence fell again, stretching thick between them. What had Arima done to reduce Ken to this, this shadow? Not knowing how else to help, Amon went to the kitchen and got a glass of water, then came back and set it in front of Kaneki. At the quiet thunk of the glass hitting the table, Kaneki looked up. Only then did Amon notice that the swath of bandages was gone. In its place was a simple black eyepatch.

Kaneki reached out for the glass, still folded in on himself. “Thanks...” he whispered.

“That bad?” He shouldn't push, he knew it, but his own curiosity and worry for the other egged him on.

“Yeah.” Kaneki sipped at the water, then sighed. “Arima wanted... everything I could remember. Every last bit of it. Everything from my favorite color as a child to what I did last Tuesday. A lot of things I couldn't answer, but as he kept pushing memories started coming back...” Kaneki swallowed hard. “Not pleasant memories.”

Amon relaxed a little. There wasn't a lot he could do about the demons in Kaneki's own head, but at least it hadn't been worse. Amon had been to Cochlea before, and seen some of the things the CCG pretended didn't happen. “I see...”

Kaneki took another deliberately deep breath and set the glass down. “When he was done, though... H-He told me what he wants, for my future.” Kaneki's voice cracked, and Amon sat up straighter. “He w-wants...” A deep breath. “He wants me to join the CCG. As a dove.”

Amon blinked. What? “But you're...” It would never fly. Too many people knew Kaneki was a ghoul and would jump at the chance to silence him the minute his back was turned. It wasn't like Arima to come up with a plan destined to fail.

When Kaneki reached for the water again, Amon could see his hand shake. “He wants to erase Kaneki Ken. Completely. Make me officially dead, and then... have me start over.”

“As a dove.” That... could work, actually. While a lot of people knew Kaneki existed, only a handful had seen him. “What do you think about it?”

Kaneki shook his head. “That's not all... in a raid a while back, I guess they found some of Kanou's notes. They think... they think they can replicate what was done to me. And they want to. They're searching for volunteers right now.”

A shiver went up Amon's back. Turning humans into ghouls...

“He, he said, they'd start me over, give me a new name and a job and everything... and in return I hunt ghouls with the CCG and... watch over the new ones. Since I've been through it, I'd be the best one to notice if there are any problems, I guess.” This time Kaneki chugged his water, draining the glass.

Amon sat back, thinking hard. It was a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of trust. “You'd have to be watched, though, wouldn't you? The CCG can't trust you that much right off the bat.”

Kaneki nodded, finally starting to look a little more like himself. “The blonde woman, and a few others, he said would be supporting me. But if I lose control...” He shrugged. “That actually makes me feel better about it, though. If something happened, well... I'd rather be dead.” With a sigh, he rolled to his feet. “I've got some time to think about it, and I'm exhausted, so I'm laying down again.”

Amon nodded understanding, and Kaneki walked toward his room. In the doorway, though, he hesitated, looking like there was something he wanted to say. After a second, he shook his head and shut the door behind himself.

 

* * *

 

The worst part about healing: boredom. Amon was forbidden from doing anything physical still, and leaving the room and leaving Kaneki alone just didn't seem like a good idea. That left precious few things to do. He sat on the couch and flipped channels aimlessly, trying to find something to capture his attention.

After a few programs, Amon heard a sound that wasn't from the TV. It was quiet, though, so quiet he thought he'd imagined it.

The first time.

Then it came again, and Amon muted the TV. What was that? Carefully he stood, wobbling only slightly, and turned his head back and forth. There, there it was again. A soft, sad sound. Amon crept toward Kaneki's room, and _oh_ it was coming from him. Kaneki huddled under his blanket, twitching and shifting. “Nnh... no...” His voice was just a whisper of sound.

“Kaneki?” Amon asked softly. He didn't want to startle the other, but if it got him out of the nightmare it'd be worth it. He eased around the door and stepped closer. “Kaneki.”

The other turned over, kicking off his cover and making a little unhappy sound as he did. Amon had thought he'd be a light sleeper, but apparently not. “Fah... four hundred...” What even kind of dream was Kaneki having? Amon walked up to beside Kaneki's bed, where the other was mumbling indistinct numbers. Nightmares about math homework? The thought brought a faint smile to Amon's face, but he leaned over and then- “Nnh... twenty... Mom...” That didn't sound like a number.

“Kaneki,” Amon said louder. “Wake up.”

The effect was immediate. Kaneki jolted, eyes flying open and limbs shooting outward. His knee caught Amon right in the stomach and sent him flying backward.

Amon hit the floor with a heavy thump, wheezing and doubling over immediately. “Hhhh...”

The other was off the bed and next to him before Amon could process anything but that he couldn't breathe. “Oh fuck, Amon, I'm so sorry, please be okay, I'm sorry,” Kaneki babbled, hands gesturing uselessly.

Amon gasped for breath, hand folded over his stomach. He knew this sensation; he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Kaneki was up and going to his nightstand, and Amon didn't understand until he saw the gleam of the cell phone. “N... no,” he managed. “Winded... s'okay...”

With a guarded expression, Kaneki came back with his cell in hand. “Sorry... I should have warned you to wake me from a distance. I was having a nightmare, wasn't I?”

He nodded dumbly, still struggling to breathe. His stomach was already sore, but it didn't feel like more than a bruise. “Bad one. Numbers?” Kaneki's face went slack, then switched to a guarded expression.

“Oh...”

It obviously meant something to him, but Amon wasn't curious enough to push. His breath was finally starting to even out, and he tilted his head back and let his eyes close in relief.

“You're really okay?” Kaneki asked softly. “I know I don't have all my strength back, but I think I still hit you hard. I should call a nurse...”

“Don't.” Amon carefully straightened up. “This is, is better kept... between us. If they know you... hurt me, even accidentally...” He let it trail off, but Kaneki's face said he understood. Amon took a carefully deep breath and it only barely hurt. “I'll be fine... in a minute.”

A tense silence fell, broken only by Amon's slightly ragged breathing and Kaneki's far quieter breathing. “I'd like to think I take people's breath away, but not quite like this.” Amon gave a little huff of amusement. The next silence to fall was less tense, but Kaneki's expression turned somber. “Do you know why they put you with me?” he asked softly. Amon's eyes widened and he looked up at Kaneki before giving his head a little shake. “You were the only one... they knew I wouldn't kill.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Because I've battled you twice, and...”

What was he supposed to say to that? “I thought this was a bad idea, but it's worked out o-”

“They're right,” Kaneki blurted. A beat. He wouldn't look at Amon anymore. “They... they're right. You could have me against a wall with a knife at my throat and I wouldn't...” He took a shaky breath, and to Amon's great surprise he leaned forward to touch his forehead against Amon's shoulder. The wounded one. “I...” Kaneki swallowed thickly. “Amon...”

Amon's hand came up to cradle the back of Kaneki's head, encouraging him. “It's alright. I'm the same.” His voice was back to normal now, and he took another deep breath. As he did, Kaneki pulled back just far enough to meet his eyes.

“Are you sure you're alright? I can still call the nurse, consequences be damned.”

Amon gave a tiny smile and shook his head. He pulled up his shirt to show Kaneki a faint pink blotch across his stomach. “Worst case scenario, I'll have a bruise tomorrow. It'll be fine.” Kaneki nodded, cheeks a little pink, and looked away, out toward the window.

“Oh,” Kaneki breathed, and Amon followed his line of sight to the golden glow of the sunset.

“That late already?” Time had flown, between worrying about Kaneki and idly flipping channels. Unsteadily Amon stood and walked over to the window. Kaneki's room had an amazing view; why didn't he know that?

The other followed him over and raised the blinds to give an unobstructed view. The whole city glowed with reflected colors, and the sight of it took Amon's breath away again. It was beautiful.

“Amon.” Kaneki's voice was quiet but firm. “I'm going to do it.”

For a moment he didn't know what the other was talking about. Going to do...?

“I'm joining the CCG.”

Silence.

“You shouldn't make up your mind hastily...”

“I'm not. It's the best place for me, and the only place I've got even a chance of, of fitting in. The blonde woman, Mado? She was telling me about some of the people here, and I think... I think I could get along with them.” The hues in the window shifted from golds to reds, and Amon looked over to see Kaneki's face bathed in the almost bloody light.

Amon thought back to what he'd been told when he decided to join the CCG, so many years ago. He didn't even remember who'd said it. “The CCG is the kind of place that attracts outcasts. Orphans, lunatics, geniuses, they all gravitate here. We find a place for them all to shine, and I'm sure we will for you, too, Koutarou.”

They watched the colors shift from red to purple in companionable silence. Amon spared a moment to glance at the clock, and the nurses were due any minute. They probably shouldn't find him in Kaneki's room. He sighed, unwilling to move. “We'll be lucky to have you,” he said softly. “Welcome to the CCG.”

Kaneki turned and gave him a brilliant smile.

 


End file.
